Shimmer, Volume 3, Issue 1

Beneath the glossy cover art by Aunia Kahn, the 2008 Spring issue of Shimmer is filled with illustrated stories loosely based on relationships, and how the power of love or the lack of it influences people’s lives. This issue will satisfy the widely diverse palates of fantasy readers.

In “Chimera and Qi” by Tinatsu Wallace, Rei goes to her mother’s house after her husband, Jeremy, tells her he doesn’t want to be with her anymore because she has changed. “You don’t seem quite human sometimes,” he tells her. The story unfolds in a kitchen filled with books, Asian herbs, tinctures, and an acupuncture flowchart of qi as Rei’s mother prepares salmon for dinner, a dish Rei has never liked. The familiar setting should be a comfort to her, but it isn’t, for as her mother goes through the usual motions of cooking, she tells Rei what she has done wrong, making her feel like a “three-year-old who has pissed on the floor.” Rei’s skin prickles, fangs grow, and scales sprout around her wrists, and she lashes out at her mother. Rei wants reassurance and love, and her mother wants to change her. When Jeremy shows up to take her home, he is not surprised to see her in a chimeric mood.

While the denouement of “Chimera and Qi” is not spectacular, it is a thought-provoking tale, with evocative descriptions of Rei’s transformation. I recommend it.

“The Hummingbird Heart” by Angela Slatter is about Ismene, a young widow who goes to great lengths to resurrect her daughter, Antiope, from the dead. Ismene becomes the lover of the mage, Philotas, in exchange for a hummingbird, which she places inside Antiope’s chest. Although the hummingbird’s fate of being shut away in darkness pains her, Ismene is delighted to have Antiope back. However, though loving and sweet, Antiope is not quite right, with her hair like feathers and eyes black and bright. Philotas tells her that this happens sometimes, that the gods will have their wish one way or another.

As time passes, Ismene becomes pregnant. Antiope climbs trees and watches the world, while her hummingbird heart beats frantically inside her chest. Then one day she tells Ismene, “Mama, I dreamt I was flying.”

This powerful tale is told in a beautiful style that fits the piece, and I look forward to seeing more of Slatter’s work. Recommended.

Jenny Maloney’s “Maybe Blue” depicts a grim world of black and white, in which prisoners are brought to the Below, an underwater compound near London. Below is a place where Crews take criminals, some of whom are capital offenders and sentenced to death. Mathilda is a mime, with the sad side of her face painted black and the happy side white. Her crime is “insubordination,” not answering the questions of Keys, the main guard. Quilt, whose face is a quilt of scars caused by abusive parents, is another guard. Fascinated by Mathilda’s duality, Quilt befriends her, but when Keys announces that she will join the experiments, he tries not to think about what will happen to her.

While the ending was a surprise, I found it difficult to suspend disbelief. Perhaps if the author developed the setting a bit more, I would have enjoyed this story.

Told from the viewpoint of a dead boy murdered by his stepmother, “Juniper Grave” by Alex Dally MacFarlane is a powerful flash tale. While his sister buries his bones under the juniper tree, the boy recounts his past mischief—whispering ghostly tales through his stepmother’s window—his murder, and how he’s been served up in pudding. Though he repeats, “I forgive you” a couple of times; nevertheless, there is an ominous flavor. “Juniper Grave” is filled with startling yet apt metaphors and strange but beautiful imagery. Recommended.

“The Girl Who Lost Her Way” by D. Lynn Smith is set in the desert. Maya is a magical girl born of her mother’s calf after a coachwhip bit her. Unlike her mother, Maya loves the desert and enjoys listening to the plants gossip. Her curiosity takes her farther and farther from their house, until one day, she gets lost. A saguaro cactus befriends her and shows her the magic of the desert, but Maya is not satisfied until she knows all the secrets. After her mother leaves her, Maya becomes sad, and the desert provides by sending another coachwhip, which bites her in the chest. Seven days later, Maya births a baby girl, whom she names Xochitl. Their lives pass as they explore the desert and the river, until one day while Maya comforts the saguaro cactus, Xochitl drowns in the river. Though I appreciated the creativity and style here, I couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters.

“The Shape of her Sorrow” by Joy Marchand is about Hester, who cuts out and eats the sorrow of the deceased so that they will not become revenants. But Hester is indifferent and jaded, and the scissors tell her that she has lost her compassion. The sorrows of Jillian, a dead woman brought to Hester by her husband, Dylan, seem ordinary at first, but as Hester keeps cutting and eating them, she soon learns that they are more than a match for her. Though the denouement was predictable, it didn’t detract; however, some judicious cutting would have made this story enjoyable.

M. K. Hobson’s “The Hand of the Devil on a String” is set in the Venice Nail Salon where Perseffany Ann Poole, aka Seff, works. When Mrs. Dee, the mother of her abusive boyfriend, comes in for a manicure and says to Seff, “I want them to look nice for my funeral,” Seff’s attention is drawn to the thing hanging around the old woman’s neck, a shriveled-up black object on a dirty piece of string, which turns out to be the Devil’s hand.

Mrs. Dee dislikes most people, including Seff, so when she tells Seff that she came to give this item to her, Seff doesn’t take her seriously. Mrs. Dee recounts how she left an abusive husband and came to Hermiston, settled down, and “got in with God-fearin’ people.” That year, the town had an unnaturally cold winter, and the people suffered, so they looked for someone to blame. They determined that the young fortune-teller, “ungodly and presumptuous,” who turned up during the summer and had a baby, was the cause of the evil winter, and the townsfolk chased her away. The woman froze to death, but the baby survived, as they learned when the Devil himself showed up next spring at their church and demanded that someone take the baby for a year or they would all pay for the death of his mother. Mrs. Dee was the one who took in that baby and, despite his being the devil’s spawn, she has come to love him. When the Devil returned a year later to take the baby back, Mrs. Dee fought him and cut off his hand.

This story has much to recommend it, from the cleverly constructed, suspenseful pacing to the thought-provoking premise. Hobson makes us love the unlovable. “The Devil’s Hand on a String” was my favorite in this issue.

“20^th Anniversary Caveman” by Grá Linnea is a flash fiction about a woman who wants to give her parents the perfect gift for their anniversary. She finds a caveman under their lawn, digs him up, and presents him to her parents. I can’t say more without giving away the ending, but the caveman has surprises both for the parents and the daughter.

In “Even the Slowest Fall” by D. T. Friedman, the source of magic is the Mother River, capable of slowing time. Memory is a place where past generations of the villagers live in slowtime. Tabor is a Healer who must slow down her currents to reach injured people. Periodically, various people attack the village and cause the Fire. Ensei, Tabor’s lover who lives in realtime, is waiting for their currents of time to match, so they can “share a cup.” When the Steward becomes ill from the Fire, Tabor chooses to slow her currents to an irreversible degree. She heals the Steward but, in doing so, is even more separated from Ensei and becomes a resident of Memory. When pilgrims set fire to the village, Ensei draws upon the power of the Mother Gift and fights to protect Tabor and Memory.

What the Fire is and why people attack the village is not clear, and I found “Even the Slowest Fall” confusing and overlong. Friedman’s writing is competent, but the characters are shallow, and the story goes nowhere.

“Distractions” by Chad Brian Henry is a flash fiction piece about time travel. The protagonist is sitting in a bar, listening to a song playing on the jukebox when a woman enters. He glimpses her future, but, distracted by her presence, he fails to hold the thoughts in his head long enough to warn her.

“The Glass Girl Looks Back” by Stephanie Campisi is a modern day fairy tale, tragic, as many fairy tales are. People either look through her or past her, until one day, a wealthy young man stumbles into her. After admiring her beauty, he offers her a job, which she gratefully accepts. Maids fuss over her and spray her with a fine silver paint, after which she is hung on the wall in an ornate gold frame so that people may admire her. The handsome young man comes to admire her every day, and the glass girl finds herself falling in love with him. Time passes, and the young man grows older, until one day he says to her, “You are no longer beautiful.”

The tragedy of the glass girl struck me as an allegory of today’s trophy wives. Campisi captures the plight of the glass girl well, and while the ending wasn’t a surprise, this is a well-crafted story with beautiful prose. Recommended.

The magazine is rounded out with the interview with Dave Farland by Spencer Ellsworth. Overall, a nice issue.